The present invention relates generally to the field of videoconferencing, and more particularly to processing audiovisual streams in a videoconference.
Videoconferencing is an essential and indispensable part of today's communication. It is a very cost effective alternative to in-person meetings and allows for bringing people together regardless of locations to exchange ideas in real time and in an interactive manner. A videoconference involves a live exchange and mass articulation of video and audio information among two or more participants who are remote from one another but linked by a telecommunication system.
Sometimes the content of a videoconference needs to be recorded, for example, when the videoconference is related to important topics and key problems or for the purpose of an archive. Conventionally, the recorded information includes video and audio signals from each participant. Such a recording process consumes considerable computing and storage resources. In addition, in a real-time videoconference, equivalent processing of all audiovisual streams will degrade the rate of data transmission and processing, thereby impacting performance of the videoconference.